


Latch

by Sharkiid



Series: To the Moon and Back [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Drinking, F/M, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Sex, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, bunch of theories, mentions of domestic abuse, sephiroth and genesis have wings in this so that's kind of cool, weird families
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:53:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharkiid/pseuds/Sharkiid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It can be tough living with strict parents; especially when you’re basically a superhuman. But Cloud is finally breaking out of his strict parent’s hold and finding romance, enemies, and even becoming part of SOLDIER; his dream since he was a boy. Contains sex, trans characters, polyamory, and drinking. Part one of To the Moon and Back saga</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Night Out

**Author's Note:**

> So I rediscovered a story my friend and I wrote about 6 years ago. I'm still working on revising it, and I apologize if it doesn't make sense right now. I also apologize if it seems Out of character. That's something I'm currently working on. Also this is a saga; probably 3 or 4 parts; maybe even more.
> 
> EDIT: I changed a few plot points about mako and when/why it was used. So, please re-read through that to better understand.

_Fuck! I'm gonna be late!_

Cloud picked up his pace as he heard the warning bell go off. He rushed through the hallways, staring up at all of the door numbers. It was his first year of high school, and he was immediately regretting not going to freshman orientation last week. As he turned a corner, he bounced backwards as he hit another body. "Oh shit I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, picking up all of the person's papers he sent flying.

The other teen gave out a small chuckle and picked up the other pieces of paper. "It's alright. I wasn't really looking where I was going, either," He looked over all of the papers that Cloud handed to him, trying to get them all back in a certain order. "are you a freshman?

" Cloud blinked, a little taken aback that the teen knew right away "Is...is it that obvious?"The brunette gave him a small smirk and nodded, and Cloud's face went red. "Yeah...and....I sort of don't know where my first class is"

"What room number?"

"210"

"Oh, I had that room last year. Just take those stairs and go right. You won't miss it."

"Thank you so much...uh?" Cloud questioned, awaiting for a name.

"Squ......Leon. Just Leon" He looked a little disconcerted as he had to correct himself.

Cloud wondered what he was originally going to say, and why it seemed to throw him off-guard. "I'm Cloud Strife." Cloud gave a slight smile, and Leon nodded

"Will you be fine with all of your other classes?"

"Uh," Cloud looked down at his schedule again "I think I'll be alright, I have gym next, then lunch, and then a classroom which I remember seeing walking pass here"

"Oh you have gym second block too? Cool, I guess I'll see you then." Cloud smiled, thinking that he'll finally be able to make a friend. Well, he had a friend, but he was barely able to see him since his parents always kept him inside. And from what he's aware, he and Zack have no similar classes together, so hopefully, he and Leon can bond and become very good friends, and he'll have someone to talk to on a daily basis. He nodded and the two departed to their classes.

-L- 

"Cloud!" Cloud found himself having to balance himself as a certain black haired teen ran over and hugged him tightly. 

Cloud chuckled slightly and put one arm on his best friend's back. "Hey Zack. It's been a while"

Zack let go of him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Your parents didn't let you out all summer again? Don't they know you need to breathe?"

Cloud let out a low chuckle and smiled as he spotted Leon. Cloud waved over as Leon noticed them, and made his way over to the two.

"Hey! I've seen you a few times in the neighborhood! Leon, right?" Zack asked. Leon gave a small nod. "Yeah, I've seen you spar a few times. You're pretty good!"

"Oh, you do sword fighting too?" Cloud asked heartily. He's been longing to spar with someone other than Zack, and this was a great opportunity.

"I do." "Cool! We should spar right after school!" Zack exclaimed, but frowned a little looking over at Cloud. "You think your parents will let you get out of the house for a few hours?"

Cloud bit his lip as he knew what Zack was talking about. His parents hardly let him do anything, let alone go outside. They would rather have him stay inside and work on his studies and not to worry about the outside world. His place was behind the books, like they always said. "I can find an excuse to let me out for a little while."

"Parents that cruel, huh?" Leon asked, with his arms across his chest.

Before Cloud had the chance to open his mouth Zack nodded furiously. "He lives in our neighborhood right next door to me but his parents don't want him around anyone. They think he shouldn't really be a fighter, but a teacher or a doctor instead."

Cloud gave an embarrassed smile to Leon who gave him a faint nod in return. "We're changing that. Come with us today after school and we'll spar. Then on friday, you're going to the bonfire."

"Wow a bonfire? That sounds really cool thanks" Cloud said, really surprised that all of this was happening just a few blocks away from him.

-L-

"Cloud! You're home!" Cloud chuckled as he was hugged by two 8 year olds and one 5 year old. He picked up his youngest brother and ran a hand through his spikey brown hair. "Hey boys. You wanna go watch me spar with Zack?"

The three boys grinned and yelled out "Yeah!" in unison.

"Cloud are you going to the beach? I have friends who go there a lot too!"

Cloud blinked and stared at one of his brothers. His parents were just as strict with his 3 little brothers as they were with him. And the three of them were being homeschooled. He wondered who these friends were.

"What do you mean, Roxas?" "I have a few friends who like to go down to the beach," Roxas looked around and lowered his voice down to a whisper "sometimes when mom and dad aren't looking, we take turns going there, too."

Before Cloud could say anything, their mother walked in and smiled at them. "How was your first day at a real school, sweetheart?"

"It was good, mom. Do you mind if I take the boys down to the library and help them with their schoolwork?" Cloud asked, a little eagerly. He knew both Leon and Zack were waiting, and he didn't want to keep them long.

"Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea, Cloud. Just make sure you're home in time for dinner" His mother said, and laughed as the three boys cheered and ran to the door.

Cloud rushed to his room and threw his back pack down on his bed and went outside with his brothers. Zack met him at the end of the court, handing Cloud his sword. Keeping his sword at his own house was a little too risky, so Cloud had Zack keep it as his. Leon was there too, and his raised an eyebrow as he looked at Cloud's weapon.

"That's a pretty big weapon"

"Yeah," Cloud started, rubbing the back of his neck. "Average sized swords are a little too weak for me."

"So you have the mako too, huh?" asked Leon, as they began walking towards the beach.

Cloud nodded. "Do you have it? Or are you from out of town?"

"I'm from Balamb Garden, a few people told me about mako and honestly? I'm a little glad I wasn't born here."

Cloud gave him a saddened smile. Hallow Bastion was a town of mysteries that were still unsolved. About 40 years ago, the whole town was attacked by monsters. The monsters showed no sign of disappearing, and even maneuvered to different towns and cities. A city called Midgar then created an organization called SOLDIER. They were military based, and trained hard to kill the monsters and any other strange creatures. SOLDIER weren't just soldiers, but scientists, engineers, medics, all people who had help the soldiers try to get rid of the monsters as easy as possible. Soon, SOLDIER's army began to decrease. Monsters were getting too strong for monsters to kill them. Scientists of SOLDIERs found a solution. Almost 20 years ago, children were given an injection called Mako. This was supposed to give them strength much stronger than the average humans. However, over a few years scientists have been doing a few tweaks to the injection; and some children, instead of having super strength had super powers. The scientists were hoping that this would help SOLDIER become stronger in power, and it did. SOLDIER is as strong as ever with these new super humans, and Hallow Bastion is more peaceful than it has been in 30 years. 

"I'm glad I have mako!" Cloud's youngest brother, Sora exclaimed. "then I wouldn't be able to fight with Riku!"

"Fight?" Cloud asked, chuckling. Exactly how is his little brother finding the time to fight?

"Yeah we sword fight!"

"With _wooden_ swords." Roxas stated.

The group made their way to the beach, which was just a few blocks down from Cloud's street, and Sora automatically ran off with a Silver haired boy and a girl with short red hair. Cloud went to go after him, but Zack put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Cloud. They're always careful." Still looking at his young brother, Cloud gave a faint nod, but turned to face Zack and took his stance.

He smirked and drew his sword. "You ready?"

Zack gave him a devious smile and took his stance as well. "I was born ready."

-L-

"Not fair Riku you cheated!"

"No I didn't, you're just too slow."

"He won fair and square, Sora."

Sora glared at the girl. "You always take his side, Kairi."

"Come on now, Sora. What have I told you about not being a sore loser." Sora turned around and he saw his oldest brother.

"But he really cheated Cloud I swear it."

Cloud picked him up and put him on his shoulders. "Well if that's true maybe you can catch him next time huh?" Sora giggled and nodded, putting a hand on top of his brother's head. "Now let's go home. It's almost dinner time."

The 5 year old turned his head and waved at the other two kids. "So didjya win? Or did Zack kick your butt again?"

Cloud smiled and snickered. "Well, no. I kicked Zack's but this time. But then Leon got me good." 

As he walked down the street looking for his two other brothers, he noticed Roxas was on the shoulders of one teen, about the same age as Leon, with spikey red hair. Even though Leon and Zack had told him not to worry about anyone in the neighborhood causing a threat, Cloud coulnd't help but feel extremely worried for his 8 year old brother. He approached the teen and glared at him "What do you think you're doing with my brother?" he called out.

The red haired teen turned around and Roxas grinned. "Hi Cloud! Me and Axel were looking for you!"

"Axel, huh?" The teen grinned at him

"Hey don't you remember, I'm in your gym class. Look I'm sorry if I worried you. Roxas knew you wanted to be home at a certain time so he I said I'd help look for you. And what do ya know, we found you!"

 _He was in my gym class?_ Cloud thought, trying to remember seeing a kid with that kind of hair. Maybe he was too lost in his world. Or maybe we was talking to Zack more to really recognize anyone else in the class.

Axel let Roxas back down and ruffled his hair. "See ya later, bud." He looked back up at cloud and put his hands up as Cloud still looked a little uncertain. "Relax, man. Roxas is really cool, I wouldn't let anything really happen to him, I swear." 

Cloud took his brother's hand and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he murmured, "I can get a little paranoid. They're just so young and I wasn't even aware about how friendly this neighborhood is." 

Axel gave him a friendly smile "It's okay. I'm no threat here. In fact, I really don't think anyone is. Got it memorized?" 

Cloud slowly nodded, confused on what he meant by that phrase. 

~ 

 

After taking a well needed shower, Cloud plopped down on his bed and checked his phone. A small smile was plastered on his lips as he got a new message from an unknown number.  

_Zack was right. You're a really good sparring partner._

Cloud rolled on his back and quickly sent a message back 

_You're pretty good too. I don't think I've ever had anyone besides Zack kick my ass before._

_Well, I've been training since I was little. Anyways, you think you're still up for the bonfire Friday night?_

_Definitely. I'll find a good excuse to tell my folks._

Cloud smiled, locked his phone, and put it on the charger. His life was finally going to get interesting. 

 


	2. Bonfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I am SO SORRY this took over a year to update! My life had changed drastically and I had zero time to do any writing. 
> 
> IMPORTANT!!!! I have something to mention since we changed this story a lot over the year. My friend and I were unable to agree if we wanted this to stay Cloud/Squall, or if we wanted to change it to Cloud/Tifa, since Tifa has a HUGE role in this story (and CloTi is my OTP). We decided to just make it so they're polyamorous. That's the best way to solve a love triangle, IMO. So expect both Cleon and Cloti! 
> 
> If you've already read the first chapter, please read it again because I had edited things about mako and why it's being used. Again, this story is still under A LOT of construction. So I apologize any time I make huge adjustments to it.

Ever since Cloud first met Leon and the others, he's been anticipating this Friday night. Since he didn't want his parents to become suspicious, the blonde teen stayed home during the rest of the week, doing his homework and, of course, helping out his younger brothers. Cloud had talked to his parents about taking the boys down to the beach, so they could get some fresh air and have a nice break for a couple of hours. His parents agreed as long as the boys were home by 8 o'Clock, and that Cloud was allowed to sleep at Zack's house. As Ventus and Roxas came home from school, Cloud took them and Sora down to the beach, where he saw Leon and his brother.

As Ventus saw Leon's brother, he ran up to the older looking boy and pulled him into a tight hug, "Hey Terra!"

"Hi Ven," Terra looked up at Cloud, "Oh, this is your brother, right? He looks a lot like you."

Ventus giggled a little and nodded, tugging on Terra's arm, "C'mon, let's go find Aqua! We saw a dead fox on the shore on Monday, maybe it's a skeleton!" The two boys ran off with Sora quickly following, and Cloud tried to tell them to be safe, but they were already out of earshot in a second.

"I'm gonna find Axel, mkay cloud?" Roxas said before running off as well. Ever since Cloud realized that Axel was in his gym class, he's been talking to him quite often; figuring out that Axel was really no threat to his 8 year old brother.

Leon and Cloud began to walk down to the beach, talking about their classes and the teachers that they already have to suffer through. Then, a girl with blonde hair and a guy with long pink hair approached them. The girl smirked and crossed her arms, "Oh, so this is Squall's new 'friend', huh? Funny, I thought you were into older guys." The teen with pink hair chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"First of all, I told you not to call me that, Larxene. Secondly, we're not together."

"Well, that's a relief. Wouldn't want Angel Cakes to get his panties in a bunch now would we? What even happened last week that made him get s-"

"Drop it." Leon's voice was dripping with acid. Whatever they were talking about, Cloud could tell it was definitely not a good subject to even approach. The blonde suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Psh. Whatever. I keep telling you tha-"

Before Larxene could even finish her sentence, a small boy jumped down from the tree above them, making her scream and jump back. "DEMYX! What the _fuck_ are you doing?!"

The small boy just laughed heartily, "Oh man Larxene, I got you good! Sai! Did you see her face?" He turned around to a blue haired child who looked about the same age. The boy didn't look amused. Larxene rolled her eyes and grabbed onto her friend's arm.

"Whatever, see ya later, Squall" She smiled at them and winked at Cloud before heading to the beach.

Demyx beamed up at Cloud, happy to see a new face, "Hey! I'm Demyx! I'm 10 and I love music and water! What's your name?" Cloud blinked, bewildered. This kid talked a mile a minute!

"Cloud" he said, making Demyx laugh out loud.

"CLOUD?! What kind of name is that? Why'd your parents name all your brothers cool names but you after a thing in the sky?! Were they going through their hippie stage?"

"Demyx, can you shut up for five minutes," the blue haired boy groaned "you give me a migraine."

"Saix, his name is **CLOUD** , for crying out loud!" Demyx laughed even more as he climbed up the tree again.

Saix rolled his eyes and shook his head, before looking at Leon, "Sephiroth is looking for you."

"He knows where to find me." Leon said coldly.

"Xemnas told me he-"

"He's _sorry?_ He can tell me that himself. Like I said, he knows where to find me. He knows where I live, he knows my phone number. If he's that sorry, he needs to make an attempt to apologize and not send an 11 year old to be his messenger."

"What happened?" Demyx asked, hanging upside down from the tree and putting a hand on Saix's shoulder for support. "Did he get mad again?"

"Again? _Again?_ You're not telling me that you're in an abusive relationship, are you?"

Leon looked over at Cloud, narrowing his eyes, "Mako affects everyone in different ways. That's what they even say in school. I'm not trying to defend him, but it's a good enough ex-"

"Excuse? Mako affects me like that as well but I would **NEVER** hurt someone!" Cloud was angry now. Leon, no, nobody, deserved to be in an abusive relationship. Mako was not a good enough excuse. There's a ton of medications and even home remedies for people to take if their mako is too much for them or anyone else to handle.

"Yeah well," Saix glared, crossing his arms, "Obviously you don't know the worst about mako. Especially Sephiroth's. His dad experimented on him first, for crying out loud! He was the guinea pig, that's why no one else is like him. He's got more than you would ever know."

Cloud could tell that Saix was angry, and, even though he was only 11 years old, Cloud felt…..intimidated. He stared at Saix, whose yellow eyes were piercing with anger. Demyx jumped out of the tree, "Seph isn't too bad. It's not like he gets mad at people. He just gets uhh….what did you call it, Sai? Triggered by certain topics. He never really means it and he always apologizes."

Cloud sighed and closed his eyes for a split second. Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he didn't know enough about mako, especially the first person who was given the serum. He looked at Leon and nodded, "You're right. It's not my place to say anything. I'm sorry."

Leon shook his head, "It's fine. We have to break up anyways. He knows that and has probably been avoiding me for a while."

-L-

"Why can't I come?"

"You're too young."

"Pleeeeeease, Cloud? It's not fair you get to go but not me!"

"Silly," Cloud smiled at his pouty younger brother, "I'm six years older than you. Of course I get to go," Cloud got down on his knees and put a hand on Roxas' shoulders, When you turn 13, I promise you'll get to go. Then you and Axel can hang out as much as you want."

The 8 year old rolled his eyes, "Fine. Tell Axel I said hi, okay?"

Cloud stood back up and ruffled Roxas' hair, "No problem. Now make sure Ven and Sora don't get in too much trouble." He waved at his younger brother and grabbed his bag, heading to the beach.

"Cloud! Finally!" Zack stood up and the younger teen.

The blonde chuckled and sat down next to him and Leon, "Sorry, I had to pry Roxas off of me," he said as he glanced over at Axel. "He says hi, by the way."

Axel smiled, "Cute kid. Good one too. He won't be too hard of a teenager."

Cloud chuckled, "I hope not." He looked around at everyone else. The sun was starting to disappear over the horizon, and the fire was burning lowly. Many people were here, and he could see more people appearing, and that's when Cloud found himself gawking at the smiling beauty who approached him.

She had long brown hair, a nice hourglass shape, and…. _huge breasts._ Cloud tried not to stare, but she was just too beautiful. She crouched down next to them and smiled at Leon. "Hey you. Haven't seen you in a while." Leon said.

"Sorry," she giggled and sat all the way down, "They moved me over to Midgar. It's that time of the year again." The girl looked over at Cloud, who was trying really hard not to gawk at her. "And who is this?"

"Oh…hi…I'm …I'm uh," Cloud blinked. Did he seriously forget how to talk?! How did one girl make him forget how to form sensible sentences, "Cloud. Cloud. That's my name. Cloud Strife."

"Alright, Cloud Strife," the brunette smiled and held out her hand, "I'm Tifa. Tifa Lockhart." Cloud took her and was almost mesmerized by how soft her hand was. What did she do to make them so soft?!

"So you…you work for SOLDIER?"

Tifa nodded, "I don't fight or anything. I used to be a soldier, I was one for three years but, I don't know, I didn't like how risky it was so I asked to just train recruits in martial arts."

Zack eyes widened, "You teach martial arts? Really?"

"Oh yes, you learn a ton of different moves. You have to be completely agile to be able to do the things that Soldiers do. This isn't just your regular warfare." Tifa smiled and took a sip of her sprite.

"Wow," Zack gasped, though his attention was soon focused on the figure who walked up on the beach.

This man, he was just as beautiful as Tifa. Long silver hair, lean body, his eyes were the same shade as Cloud's, and he had….a wing. How does someone have a wing?! And only one at that.

Zack exhaled, "I-it's you….you're…..you're Sephiroth," Cloud glanced over at Zack. Does he know this guy? "You're the commander of first class…you…..you're not even 20!"

What?! No. No. There was absolutely no way this guy could have been commander of first class for SOLDIER. No one was allowed to be in Soldier until they were 15, and that test was almost too difficult for anyone to pass. How could an 18 year old already be first class commander?!

"Tell me something I don't know." Sephiroth looked over at Leon, gesturing for him to follow. Leon slowly got up, patting Cloud's shoulder. The two disappeared on the shore.

"Oh my god! He talked to me!" Zack practically yelled. Cloud wasn't surprised at his giddiness. It's been Zack's dream to be in SOLDIER. He's been training since they were 5 years old, and in only 3 weeks Zack would be able to take the test to see if he really has what it takes to be a 15 year old recruit. Cloud wanted to as well, but his 15th birthday wasn't until March, so he had another 6 months to train. Though it would be hard without Zack.

"Seph's a chill guy, actually," Tifa said, putting her hair up, "He can get temperamental at times, but he's trying to work on that."

Axel nodded as he played with the fire a little bit, "Everyone finds him intimidating, but he's not too bad. So," the redhead finished his drink and put the bottle on the ground. "Anyone up for a game of spin the bottle?"

-L-

An hour of playing drunken spin the bottle was exactly what Cloud needed to get his mind off of Leon and Sephiroth. He kissed an older man who had long black hair twice, he kissed Zack way too many times to be okay with, and even a kiss from Xemnas, Sephiroth's younger brother. His favorite kiss, however, was with Tifa. Her lips tasted like her cucumber melon chapstick, not to mention how soft they were. He wanted to kiss her even more, it was much too short for his liking. He wanted to give it a try, but Zack pulled him back claiming that he was too drunk and they had to get going. As he and Zack were walking back to Zack's home, they ran into Leon, alone.

"Hey, Leon, what happened to Mr. Commander?" Cloud asked, probably more drunk than he claimed to have been.

Leon shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it, "He went home. I'm going home too. Did you guys have fun?"

"Oh yeah definitely! We played Spin the Bottle. I drank kind of a lot."

Leon chuckled, "Did you kiss anyone?"

"Oh yeah basically everyone. Even Tifa! She's so cute. Zack kept landing on me, that was annoying."

Leon smiled, "Well, I'm sorry I missed out, here's another one," the brunette moved closer and gave Cloud a short, chaste kiss before walking back home. Cloud stared at him as he walked away. He didn't know if it was the giddiness of being kissed, or the alcohol, but Cloud felt like he was floating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also no, I don't ship Sephiroth/Squall, that was just used for plot and future character development. I hope everyone enjoyed!!


	3. Halloween Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so apparently I'll be making really good progress on this story, much quicker than my other one!
> 
> There's some sex about halfway into this, and of course a lot of drinking.
> 
> Enjoy!

Three months since that bonfire, Cloud's social life has been highly progressing. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen much of Tifa since then; she had a lot of work to do in Midgar. However, he did text her at any chance he got. That night of the bonfire, Leon had ended things with Sephiroth. He and Cloud weren't sure what to do with their relationship afterwards. Leon had just gotten out of a serious relationship and it felt too soon to start dating Cloud. And Cloud, well, his whole life he was pretty sure he was straight, but that kiss with Leon made him question his sexuality. Sure, he was still attracted to Tifa, but he couldn't help but notice how handsome Leon was as well. And after a good month of teasing, flirting, and occasionally kissing, the two had made it official. Even though he was in a commitment with Leon, Cloud couldn't help but to think about Tifa, and being with the both of them at the same time, but he wasn't so sure how Leon, being completely gay, would feel about it. He thought about talking to Leon about it, when Tifa came back to town, and this happened sooner than Cloud had thought.

"There's gonna be a party at Sephiroth's tonight." Leon said to Cloud as the two started walking home. Cloud looked over at Leon, raising an eyebrow.

"You really want to go to that? Won't he get jealous?"

Leon shrugged, "His two older brothers are always throwing these parties. A ton of people will be there and Sephiroth is probably already drunk as we speak."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, "So, first class commander of SOLDIER loves to throw parties and drink?"

Leon chuckled and punched Cloud's arm, "Zack comes back from training y'know," he then smirked, "Plus Tifa will be there."

Cloud blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Geez Leon, it's like you want me to cheat on you."

"It's not cheating if I know about it," Leon chuckled a little and took Cloud's hand, "but we'll discuss that later. Will you come tonight?"

"Sure, probably not till after 8, I always take the boys trick or treating."

"And that's fine," Leon kissed the blonde's cheek, "I'll see you after 8." Cloud smiled at him and went home, really taking in what Leon had just said about Tifa.

"Cloud, sweetie, are you going out tonight?" Cloud looked up from his computer to his mother, almost shocked. This was the first time either of his parents had asked him if he had plans. He didn't quite know what to say, it almost felt like a trick question. "I know Zack is off in Midgar, and you've been spending an awful lot of time with Leon. I would think that since it's Halloween night you would have plans."

"Well," Cloud started, a little too lost for words, "I uh, did want to hang out with Leon, Zack is coming back in town as well. It would be really good to see him again."

His mother nodded and sat on the extra chair, "Go out and have fun. You deserve it after making principal's list on your last report card. Your father and I will take the boys Trick R' Treating."

Now, Cloud was in complete shock. It wasn't uncommon for him to make Principal's list. He almost always made Principal's List! This never changed his parents' minds. "What! Mom, no, I've been taking them for three ye-"

"Cloud, please," his mother's voice was very insistent but reassuring, "I know we've been strict on you in the past, but your father and I have been talking and we think that maybe it's time for you to spread your wings, as long as you remember that school is your number one priority."

Cloud smiled and pulled his mother into a hug, "Thank you, mom. I really appreciate it."

"Whaaat? No! I want Cloud to take us!" Cloud and his mother glanced over and saw Sora standing in the living room, arms crossed and a pout on his face. Cloud chuckled and went over to Sora, kneeling down.

"Really Sora, mom and dad are a lot more fun. I'd just talk about high school and all the cute girls I wanna kiss." Cloud tickled his little brother's sides, who laughed and tried to slap his arms away.

"Eww, fine, but I'm not sharing ANY candy with you!" Sora said with a grin on his face.

Cloud chuckled and kissed the top of Sora's head, "That's okay, you deserve it with that cool zombie costume of yours," he stood back up and looked at his mother, "I'll bring stuff over so I can just head to school tomorrow morning." That was a lie. Cloud already knew he was going to get pretty drunk and would not be able to even try to go to school tomorrow morning, but his mother didn't need to know that.

His mother nodded and pat his back, "Just be safe."

-L-

Leon was right, Sephiroth was already drunk and it was only 5 in the evening. He was standing up on the couch, yelling at an older blonde man with a toothpick in his mouth. It was almost funny to see someone so intimidating drunkenly screaming and hollering over a child's video game. Cloud couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Hey you," Tifa came up to Cloud, with a big smile on her face, "Haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?"

Cloud grinned and tried not to stare down at her breasts again, "I'm good, made principal's list so I was able to come a little earlier. How's training new recruits?"

"Oh it's good," as the other man playing Mario kart let out a huge yell followed by a string of curse words, Tifa put a hand on Cloud's back and lead him in the kitchen, "I actually saw Zack get his ass kicked, that was fun." She chuckled and sat up on the counter, pouring a shot and handing it to Cloud. "Here, have your first taste of alcohol."

Cloud looked down at the shot glass, reluctantly taking it from her. He never thought he'd end up being like this; drinking underage, going to parties, possibly having sex tonight, but he couldn't say he was opposed to it. He quickly took the shot, coughing at the slight burn down his throat.

"Cloud!" Cloud turned around and smiled as he saw Zack coming his way and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I missed you buddy! How's the SOLDIER life treating you?"

"Great! It's so awesome Cloud, you'll definitely have a chance. Watch out for Tifa though she'll kick your ass." Zack looked over at Tifa and winked. "So I heard about you and Leon."

Cloud blushed, "Yeah, it happened. I didn't know I'd get with a guy honestly but, I like him."

"Good," Zack pat him on his shoulder, "Love always surprises us. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going to check out the most intimidating man in SOLDIER act like a complete idiot." Cloud chuckled and got himself a cup of hard fruit punch that was set out and followed Zack and Tifa into the living room.

Hours went by and Cloud kept drinking. Everything was meshing into one another and he didn't even remember what happened an hour ago. He remembered he played Mario kart with Zack and Sephiroth, Zack completely obliterating the two. He remembered playing truth or dare, he had to tell everyone the truth about him never having sex before, and he remembered a man named Cid daring Tifa to give Cloud a lap dance. Leon was right there and Cloud was afraid of what his boyfriend would do, but he seemed to find it just as entertaining as everyone else. Besides, it wasn't a real lap dance either, but it was enough to get Cloud aroused. He thought that was over an hour ago, but from how everyone was talking about it, and how his pants felt, it was probably only not even 10 minutes ago. As Zack was drunkenly screaming over Mario characters, Cloud realized that Leon had disappeared, or did he? Cloud felt his head spinning, his body felt completely numb, and he looked over at Tifa, "I'm gonna….go lay down." He told her and stood up, slowly going upstairs. He opened the door that was closest to the stairway and stared at the familiar figure on the bed, "Leon? What're you doin'?"

Leon looked over at Cloud, "Oh hey, I was just going through stuff and taking back things I left here," Leon folded a few clothes and tossed them in an empty bin, "What are you up to?"

"I uh, I needed to lay down I'm feeling…. **woozy!"** Cloud slurred and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes as his boyfriend stroked his hair.

"Leon…"

"Hmm?"

"We've been together for like….over a _whole MONTH!_ When we gonna fuck?"

Leon couldn't help but to laugh at Cloud's choice of words, "I mean, we're both here. You're pretty drunk though. Drunken sex can be fun…." Cloud looked up at him as Leon kissed him. "Alright, I'll bottom, but I'll be in control. I'm a little more….comprehensive than you are at the moment."

Cloud nodded and kissed the brunette again, closing his eyes as Leon straddled his waist, "You're already hard?"

The blonde teen blushed, "Tifa's sexy."

Leon chuckled again and ground his hips against Cloud's, "Yeah, she is." The two began stripping their clothes, and Cloud got to fully take in how handsome Leon really was. He ran a hand through his short, soft brown hair and stared deeply into his eyes; yet those eyes were focused on something else entirely, "Holy shit Cloud, you're huge." Leon slowly began stroking the head of Cloud's member, making the blonde close his eyes tightly. Leon leaned down and stuck Cloud's throbbing member into his mouth, bobbing his head slowly.

"Holy fuck, Leon," Cloud moaned and gripped his lover's hair tight, "don't stop….don't stop."

Leon looked up and smiled at him, reaching over to the nightstand and grabbed a bottle of lube. He took a hold of Cloud's hand and coated some all over his fingers, warming it up, "Just follow my lead." He stuck a finger inside of himself, slowly rolling his hips against him. Cloud felt the air getting thick. He moved his finger a little faster and curled the very tip, then slid another in, making the same movements. Leon rocked his hips, shifting a little, and moaned as he hit his prostate. Cloud clumsily poured lube on his other hand and began to stroke Leon's member.

"Leon…." He carefully added another finger, still making sure he was able to hit his lover's prostate each time, "I'm gonna lose it, Leon. Let me fuck you."

The brunette smirked and moved off of Cloud's fingers and slowly lowered himself on Cloud's member. He hissed a little and placed his hands on Clouds chest for support. After a few moments, he began to roll his hips at a slow and steady pace. Cloud felt himself shake. He gripped Leon's waist tightly, desperately trying to hold off his orgasm. It felt too good. He slowly bucked his hips forward, trying to find that spot again. Leon leaned his hips forward and let out a sharp gasp, quickening his thrusts a little.

"Leon," Cloud gasped and gripped Leon's ass tightly, "Leon, you feel so good, you're so….you're… _fuck!"_ Cloud sat up straight and thrust his hips up very quickly, squeezing Leon's ass. The sudden movement made Leon moan and throw his head back, but found out how short lived it was as Cloud loudly climaxed. Cloud sucked on Leon's neck and stroked his lover quickly, still slowly thrusting himself as he rode out his own orgasm. Leon let out a sigh as he released, and Cloud lay back down on the bed with his lover in his arms. "That was….so awesome." Leon smirked and rolled his eyes. It definitely wasn't much, but it was one hell of a start.

-L-

Xemnas turned the music up in his headphones. Didn't any of them know that tomorrow was still a school day?! Just because Sephiroth, Loz, and Yazoo weren't in school didn't mean that he and Kadaj had to suffer; although Kadaj was staying with Demyx and Saix. Perhaps it was his own fault for not going to a friend's house, but he had a test tomorrow in his first class that he couldn't afford to fail. As he turned to get a book, he noticed that there was a silhouette through his window. Slowly and hesitantly, Xemnas looked through it, sighing in relief as he saw Saix sitting on his roof. Xemnas opened it up, and Saix climbed right in. "I told you to stop climbing up to my window."

"Oh come on, you enjoy my company." The younger boy sat down on Xemnas' bed.

"Shouldn't you be with Demyx and my little brother?"

"They're playing halo," Saix hugged his knees, "I hate halo; and you're funner to be around."

"More fun," Xemnas corrected him, "I know English is your second language but can't you please make an attempt?"

"Only for school," Saix winked, "Please let me sleep over, I promise I won't try to kiss you this time."

Xemnas slightly blushed, "Why are you so adventurous? You just turned eleven for crying out loud."

Saix shrugged, "Isa's not that great of a role model, yknow. I don't really see what the pro-"

"Because, Saix!" Xemnas slammed his pen down and turned to look at Saix, "11 and almost 15 is a big age difference! I'm in 10th grade and you're still in Elementary school. You probably don't even know what your penis does."

"My….penis…."Saix looked down at himself and scoffed, "right," he looked at Xemnas in the eye, "Okay, I get it. It would be weird for us to be a thing. I just want a friendship….and if it kills me…I'll leave you alone."

Xemnas felt himself tense up. He shouldn't have feelings this strong for a child! Although Saix….Saix was different. It felt as if he was the same age as Xemnas, maybe even older. "Maybe someday," he reassured, "it's only a four ye-"

"Three years and 10 months."

"…. _three years and 10 months_ age difference. When you're 21 and I'm 25, well…that doesn't seem like such a big difference at all, does it?"

Saix smiled and nodded, before making his way to Xemnas' closet, "Can I sleep in something?"

Xemnas nodded and Saix chose out some clothes, going in the walk in closet it and changing. When he came back out, he lay down on Xemnas' bed with him, immediately hugging his waist. "Why aren't you partying?"

"I have a test tomorrow," Xemnas said, "I don't have time to be rowdy."

"Rowdy isn't always bad. You'll be 15 soon, why not apply for SOLDIER?"

Xemnas scoffed a laugh, "Oh please, why would I deal with the same things my brothers go through? I'd rather be a teacher, maybe even a librarian."

"God, you really are the black sheep," Saix chuckled, "tan skin, orange eyes, and a fucking teacher."

Xemnas smiled and flicked the top of Saix's head, "Go to sleep, before I kick you out."

Saix smiled and moved so he was laying on Xemnas' chest. Xemnas bit his lip and hesitantly put a hand on his back. This kid was most likely going to be the death of him.

-L-

Cloud didn't want to open his eyes. He could already feel the sun peeking in through the window, making his head throb in pain even more. He knew eventually he would have to open his eyes….especially since….wait…..wasn't it Wednesday? Also, why didn't it smell like his own room? Who was laying next to him?! Cloud immediately shot up, regretting it as his ears rang. He looked at the sleeping figure next to him. It was definitely Leon, but where the fuck were they?! He closed his eyes, trying to remember. He remembered playing Mario Kart, the lap dance Tifa gave him, and…going upstairs…. _oh god._ Was he in Sephiroth's room?! The moment he asked himself that, the door opened, revealing the most intimidating man in SOLDIER. He was shirtless and his hair was a complete mess. He came closer, rubbing his eyes, seeming to not notice the two figures in his own bed. Cloud shook Leon and quickly found his pants, putting them on. Then froze as Sephiroth finally looked in that direction.

"Who….what are you doing in my ROOM?!" Cloud bit his lip and quickly got up. _"Did you seriously fuck in my bedroom!?"_

At this, Leon looked up, "Shit," he quickly put his pants and shirt back on, deciding to worry about the belts later. "Come on Cloud."

Sephiroth ran in front of the doorway, "Oh no, you're not going anywhere until you explain why you decided to fuck your boyfriend in _MY ROOM?!"_

"Sephiroth, it's not like it was intentional. I bet you did something downstairs like last week's party. We were both drunk and it just happened. I'll wash your she-"

Before Leon could finish, Sephiroth slapped him in the face. Cloud felt a flame go off in him. He didn't even hear what Sephiroth was yelling about, he just knew that as he was screaming at Leon, the blonde teen ran up and punched Sephiroth hard in the nose. Sephiroth held his nose with one hand and glared at Cloud. Another door opened, revealing a very pissed off Yazoo. "Do you have ANY FUCKING clue how early it is?! You two," he pointed at Leon and Cloud, "Leave! You, wash your fucking face and take an ibuprofen. I'm so _TIRED_ of you taking your goddamn hangover out on everyone else!"

Leon nodded and grabbed Cloud's arm, "Sorry, Yazoo." The two began going downstairs, with Sephiroth following behind. Before they had time to open the storm door, Sephiroth grabbed the back of Cloud's head, shoving it against the door and making the whole door shatter.

_"Sephiroth!"_

-L-

When Cloud opened his eyes, he found himself in yet another unfamiliar place. "Oh thank god, you're alive!" He saw Tifa was right next to him, with a first aid kit.

"What…happened."

"You grew some balls and punched Sephiroth in the face," Leon said, sitting next to him, "he got pissed off and nearly cracked your skull open by shoving your head against the storm door."

"Yep," Tifa said, looking around with gloved hands at his face, "we're gonna have to take you to the hospital."

"Shit," Cloud closed his eyes, wincing a little as Tifa found a glass shard, "this wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a nice morning after."

Leon chuckled a little, "Neither did I."

Cloud smiled a little and looked at Tifa as she was mending to his wounds as best as she could, "Thanks for the lap dance yesterday."

Tifa laughed, "Oh? Did it help you get it up? I was right when I thought I felt your dick?"

Cloud couldn't help but blush, still wearing a smug grin, "Obviously."

Leon rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you're cheating on me when I'm right here."

"It's not cheating if you know about it." Cloud grinned smugly and Leon chuckled.

"You're right," Leon leaned up and took a sip of his water, "If you want to, and if Tifa is okay with it, then sure. I don't mind sharing."

Cloud was shocked and he looked at Tifa, who seemed as if she already knew about this. "Don't worry Cloud. We talked about it while you were unconscious. I'm okay with it. He's okay with it. You want to be in a polyamorous relationship? It's fine with us."

Cloud smiled and nodded, happy beyond relief. He had two lovers! Two beautiful lovers to call his own, and they were completely fine with that. There was still one _small_ thing that would get in his way: his parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally my chapters are only 1000-2000 words long, but this beats it by at least 1000 words. Shit boi.
> 
> Reviews and Kudos are highly encouraged!


	4. SOLDIER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important note!!! I KNOW Sephiroth is canonically a general, right now (since this is a saga that goes on with time) he's only a Lieutenant. He won't be General till the second or third part of this saga.

"I can't fucking believe you," Sephiroth rolled his eyes at his older brother's complaints, "what if he got a _concussion,_ Sephiroth?! What if his parents try to sue? You're paying for a new storm door!" Yazoo stood in front of Sephirtoh, hands on his hips, glowering up at the soldier. He rolled his eyes after a few moments of silence and started to head back upstairs, "God you're such a fucking prick. I don't _CARE_ how much mako you have, learn how to control it."

Sephiroth scoffed and sauntered into the kitchen, looking at the mess of the house. There were drinks everywhere, people's clothes, a broken lamp, and even some passed out bodies; in fact, he ended up tripping over one of those bodies. The silver haired man narrowed his eyes and stared down at him. The figure groaned and held his stomach, flipping back over to reveal his face. Sephiroth recognized him. He was one of those new young recruits; the only 15 year old who had made it through last month's test. The boy opened his eyes slowly and stared up at Sephiroth.

"Where….am I?" he softly asked, drool and a little bit of vomit running down the corner of his mouth. Sephiroth scowled at the mess.

"My house," he stepped over him and reached up in the cabinet for an Aleve, "now leave."

The boy sat up, wiping his mouth and studied Sephiroth's face, "What happened to your nose?"

"Fucking kid punched me. Spike blonde hair," Sephiroth poured himself some water and swallowed the pill, "the one fucking Squall."

"Oh! Cloud did that?!" the boy broke out into laughter and stood up, "holy shit! What happened? He must be strong, I told him not to worry about getting into SOLDIER!"

"Aren't you that kid?"

"Yep, Zack Fair," the boy nodded and smiled, then reached over for a painkiller as well, "Jeez, next time I should really tone it down. That was the first time I ever got totally wasted!"

Sephiroth raised his eyebrows, "Congratulations." He held onto his nose with a wet rag, thinking about waking up Cid and asking him to pop it in back in place.

"You want me to take care of that for you?" Zack eagerly asked, looking up at the Lieutenant.

"If you must, yes." Sephiroth moved back into the living room, sitting down on the couch. Zack came over to him and got in front of him; and in one quick move, there was a loud cracking noise as he popped Sephiroth's nose back into place. He stared at the silver haired man, same blueish green eyes looking into Sephiroth's.

"What did you do to make him punch you this hard?"

Sephiroth shrugged, "Found him and Squall in my room. I yelled at them and he punched me in the face." The soldier avoided telling Zack about hitting Squall. He seemed to be very close to Cloud and probably would've went on an unnecessary tangent.

"Hm, Sounds like Cloud. His temper can get kind of out of hand." Zack licked his dry lips as he wiped off Sephiroth's nose. Even though he was hiding it very well, he was extremely nervous to be _this close_ to the Lieutenant. "You were pretty wild last night, it was really funny."

"Tch. So I've heard." Sephiroth sat back up and began to gather up all of the empty drinks and throwing clothes into a huge pile. Might as well clean this place up before Yazoo comes back downstairs, or their mom decides to make a surprise visit. Much to Sephiroth's dismay, Zack was like a dog and began to follow him around.

"You're really good at Mario Kart."

This made Sephiroth stop in his tracks, "Mario Kart? I can't stand that game."

"Apparently you didn't last night," Zack chuckled and sat back on the couch as Sephiroth started scrubbing down the carpet where someone had puked, "you were really into Waluigi."

The silver haired man scowled, "I do stupid things when I'm drunk, I assure you I'm nothing like that when I'm sober."

"Well, you know that being drunk shows your true personality, right?" Zack leaned back on the couch, "Meaning that you're actually a huge dork who loves Mario Kart."

"Get out of my house."

Zack chuckled at the annoyed remark and stood up, "I should head home anyways. See you later, Lieutenant." He smirked and stared at the shattered door for a split second, then made his way home. Sephiroth groaned in frustration. First, he wakes up with a hangover, gets a broken nose, now _another_ 15 year old recruit is flirting with him.

* * *

_"Fuck."_

"No."

"Oh, fuck, _Tifa…"_

"Cloud, don't you dare."

Cloud slowed his thrusts down and closed his eyes tightly. They weren't even a minute into it and he could already feel himself coming to an end. He held the back of Tifa's head and moaned, pulling himself out and spilling his seed all over her stomach. Tifa sighed in disappointment, rubbing his back.

"Sorry." Cloud breathed out, sitting back up.

"It's alright. One day you'll get it down," Cloud smiled sadly. When the fuck would that be? It's been five months since he got together with them, and hasn't managed to make Tifa orgasm, or Leon to be the first one to climax, "it just takes a lot of practice," Tifa kissed Cloud's neck, running a hand through the back of his head, "something else is on your mind?"

Cloud nodded, "I'm nervous about tomorrow."

"Don't be. I told you you're strong enough. I got in, Zack got in. I bet Leon would get in if he tried. And if you don't, just suffer another three years of school and get your diploma. You may even change your mind about being a soldier."

Cloud sighed and nodded. Maybe that's what his parents would want, anyways. It took a lot of convincing for them to sign the form that any applicants under the age of 18 had to sign. He wasn't sure how they would feel if he even got in in the first place. Maybe if he was an engineer or a doctor working for SOLDIER, but not an actual soldier. Regardless, he already told himself that his parents' feelings would come second. This was about Cloud and Cloud's happiness. Not his parent's.

"Wanna give it another go?"

Cloud looked into Tifa's lust filled eyes and nodded, leaning down and giving her a kiss; completely forgetting everything that was just going through his mind.

* * *

 _Midgar!_ ** _Midgar!_** Cloud couldn't believe that he was actually here! He looked around, it was much bigger than Hallow Bastion was, even Nibelheim, somewhere he visit quite often. He found himself in complete awe that he almost forgot exactly why he was here in the first place. Cloud ran over to the other applicants to catch up with them. They were all talking amongst themselves, many being extremely cocky. A Soldier, probably the Major General, came out of the building and began to take their applications. He was a very large, very tall man. Almost everyone became silent and quiet. He led them inside and down a hall. The end of the hall there was an arena like place, with a huge track around the outside. The Soldier had everyone line up on the track and Cloud looked around, seeing many obstacles in the way. He took a deep breath and paid attention to the soldier, "You want to be in SOLDIER? Well, so does every other kid in this whole fucking region. That's why there's a test to weed out the ones who will actually have a chance to be in third class. With this test, we will not only test your physical endurance, but your stamina and tactics as well. Many children your age come here thinking this will be a piece of cake, and then are proven wrong. Only 5% of you will make it through. At the gunshot you may start, once you get back here, you're done. If you cannot finish or don't make it by the second gunshot, you are disqualified. Good luck." The soldier made his way in the very middle, off of the tracks. The other Soldier with him raised her arm, firing a gun in the air. The applicants, including Cloud, began running as quickly as they could. The first obstacle was a wall at least ten feet tall. Cloud took a breath and grabbed the rope. Was this it? This wasn't as bad as he thought! Just a bunch of tasks that he could easily do in P.E. Unfortunately, Cloud quickly realized that this was nothing like being in P.E. As he went on, the obstacles became more difficult, some even dangerous. He had to leap over a bed of fire that was at least 6 feet. What the hell were these people thinking?! Were they trying to kill them?! Cloud backed up and ran, almost falling in the pit as he barely made it through. He saw some people behind him back out, shaking their head and practically on the verge of tears. Cloud climbed back up and caught his breath, looking over at everyone else. No other person fell in the pit, yet no one tripped like he did. Cloud began to feel a little embarrassed, but he pulled through and kept running.

After a few more lethal obstacles and watching at least three other people back out, Cloud finally made it back to the beginning, just seconds before the gun went off. The female soldier looked at the remaining ten applicants left, and gave a short nod before speaking, "Congratulations on making it through the first test, but now is no time to celebrate. Follow." The two soldiers lead the applicants into another room, the place looking almost like a forest, "Next is the tactics test; we'll split you into two groups and you'll have to try to catch the other team member's flag. It's your job to work together and try to find out the best way to take the other team's flag. I promise it WILL NOT be as easy as it sounds, this is not kindergarten. There will be obstacles and taps on the field to use to your advantage. Good luck." They pulled out five applicants to work together, and led them all the way across the room away from Cloud and his group.

"Okay," Cloud started, a little intimidated by the people in his group, "We need a plan."

A tan boy with a mess of curly blonde hair nodded in agreement, "My guess is that the taps are scattered, probably In all those empty spaces between the obstacles."

A girl with a mowhawk hairstyle kneeled down, "He's right. Some people should find where the team is and two others need to stay here and watch the flag. I'll stay here, who's with me?" The same boy with the blonde curly hair raised his hand.

Cloud then pitched in, "Alright, then I can scout ahead and signal when to move. I can climb a tree to have a good vantage point." The pink haired girl and the other blonde boy with a tattoo on the side of his face got up with Cloud, heading out to find the other group.

The girl, who Cloud learned her name was Lightening, climbed up on the tree and began running and jumping branch after branch. Cloud and Zell almost had to jog to keep up with her. Lightening stopped suddenly, and let out a, "Shh!" Cloud looked up at her, and she pointed ahead, "I found their flag. I don't see anyone around but they can't be too far." She got off of the tree and the three of them got a little closer, crouching down behind a bush.

Up top on the balcony, three SOLDIERS were watching the applicants. Two were soldiers, one an old scientist who has been there for many years. Another figure came in and the female soldier smiled at him, "Good morning, Lieutenant."

Sephiroth ignored her greeting and leaned over to look at the applicants, "Any luck?"

"Exceptional," the scientist said, "Better than the past few months. The ones in the blue team are extremely compatible and using their environment to their advantage. I won't be surprised if all five of them are able to pass."

"Their names?"

"Paine, Claire Farron, Zell Dincht, Tidus, and Cloud Strife."

"Cloud Strife."

"Yes…the one with the blonde spikey hair; kind of looks like a chocobo if you ask me," Genesis raised his eyebrow at Sephiroth, "You know him?"

Sephiroth curled his lip as he watched Cloud grab the flag as Lightning and Zell kept the other team members occupied in combat. He scoffed a laugh. That was probably the quickest time that has ever passed when it came to this test. He took the gun from Genesis and shot it, getting the two group's attention. The 10 applicants moved their way over, and Sephiroth dismissed the losing team, so now it was just the five left. He and Cloud stared each other, his blood boiling with hatred as he remembered that this was the asshole who had the balls to fuck his ex-boyfriend in _his_ bed, and the same asshole who broke his nose and had Yazoo complain about the stupid storm door for _weeks._ Cloud didn't seem too happy to see him, either.

"….Now it's for the final part of the test," Genesis said, looking at Sephiroth and snatching his gun back. "We'll take you back to the track, and you'll be sparring one-on-one with select trainees."

Unfortunately, Cloud began to get his ass handed to him. He didn't know how this guy he was fighting was a trainee, he was extremely strong and felt like he probably already had materia. As Cloud was thrown to the floor for the millionth time with a bloody nose, the gun was fired off. He knew it. This was the end. He looked over and saw that Tidus and Lightning were in the same situation. Cloud sighed and lay down on the floor, wiping his nose and catching his breath. He knew that they would dismiss him soon. And he'd go back to school next week and deal with learning about things he didn't have the slightest interest in.

"Congratulations," Cloud looked up at the Major General. "The five of you have made it in SOLDIER." The fifteen year old widened his eyes. He was in?! But he just got his ass beat! How the hell was he in?! "These weren't just trainees. These are first-class trainees; meaning they've already had at least two years of experience in SOLDIER."

"Holy shit! Yeah baby! I'm a Soldier!" Zell jumped up and chuckled in excitement, "When do we start?"

"In three weeks. You're exempt from school now. In three weeks a bus will come for you, and you'll stay in third class training for 6 months here in Midgar. The training will be similar to the things you've done today, just much more complicated and even dangerous. You can quit at any time, just know that you will not be getting any of the SOLDIER benefits until you've been an actual Soldier for a year. A bus will be here in an hour. Congratulations again, we have confidence that you will be exceptional to SOLDIER."

* * *

"LEON! Leon!" Cloud got off of the bus and ran down the street where he saw Leon talking to Axel. As Leon turned around to greet his boyfriend, Cloud ran into his arms and hugged him tight.

Leon let out a chuckle, "Let me guess, you made it in."

"Yes! I made it, Leon! I fucking made it! I'm a SOLDIER!" Cloud couldn't stop smiling, he pulled Leon into a kiss, tears falling down his face.

"Congrats, man. Always nice to hear when people get in." Axel said, smiling.

Cloud smiled at him and nodded, "Do you wanna be one?"

"What? Me? Nah, not a soldier at least," Axel chuckled, "but a Turk? There's something I would definitely consider."

"You definitely seem like a turk," Leon said and broke out of Cloud's tight embrace, "So, you gonna tell your parents?"

Cloud's smile quickly faltered. Exactly how happy would they even be with him being in SOLDIER? "I'll…..I'll tell them tonight, for now, we should celebrate."

Leon smiled and nodded in agreement.

* * *

That night, Cloud took a breath as he opened the door to his house. It was about 8, the boys should be getting ready for bed, the perfect time to discuss the situation. "Cloud! You're home!" Roxas ran up to Cloud and hugged him, "How was the SOLDIER thing?! Didjya win?!"

Cloud chuckled and rubbed his little brother's back. "We'll talk about it tomorrow morning, kiddo, you gotta head to bed." He picked Roxas up and took him to his room, laughing at Roxas complaining about Ventus being on the top bunk. "C'mon Roxas. Not like the bed is gonna be gone tomorrow night, unless you wanna sleep in Sora's room."

"NOOO!" Roxas squirmed and jumped onto the bottom bunk, pulling the covers over his head.

Cloud smiled and kissed the top of his head, then Ven's, "Night boys. See you in the morning."

He made sure Roxas' blue fish lamp was on before turning off the other light and softly closing the door behind him. Cloud took a deep breath and made his way into the den, where his parents were watching television. He sat down on the recliner and smiled as his mother greeted him home. "I uh…want to talk to you." He rubbed the back of his neck, very nervous to tell them that he was a soldier now, and would start training in three weeks.

"You had your thing today right?" his father said, not seeming impressed. In fact, he sounded almost annoyed talking about it.

Cloud nodded, "Yes…..I…."

"You didn't make it in." his father's remark was not a question. The older man let out a chuckle and flipped the page in his book, "I told you, Cloud. You aren't fit enough to even make it. Soldiers at SOLDIER have been training their whole liv-"

"I made it in."

His father stopped reading and stared up at him, his mother then turned the T.V. on mute and glanced over at her oldest son. "What was that, sweetheart?"

"I made it in," Cloud looked down at his feet and smiled, "I'm a soldier, I go back to Midgar in three more we-"

"Wait, wait, _wait a minute_ ," Cloud's father closed his book and looked at Cloud in complete awe, "Are you telling me that you _actually made it in?"_

Cloud sighed, leaning back on the chair, "Maybe it's time for me to come clean," he got in a more comfortable position, "Dad…..mom…for years now Zack and I have been sword fighting. At first it was just with wooden swords, y'know. But…when Zack turned 10 Angeal gave him his old buster sword, then let me borrow one every time I came over and well….we've been sparring this whole time. Leon does too. I'm a lot stronger than you know, dad. It's been my dream to be in soldier for…for _YEARS!"_

"Well I'm going to have to have a talk to Angeal about this," Cloud's father took his glasses off and stood up, pointing at his son, "you shouldn't be in SOLDIER! It's not fit for you! You have three little brothers who are going to want to do the same thing! Do you know how _dangerous_ it is, Cloud?! You can get killed!"

"If the boys want to be in SOLDIER then let them!" Cloud stood up, he was angry now. This was why he didn't want to tell his parents. They always use his younger brothers as an excuse to not do anything dangerous, "Sora is just as strong as a 10 year old, we're not like you! We have ma-"

"Oh here we go with the mako! I get it, mako makes you some type of superfreak! Don't you think your parents fucking _hate that?!_ If we had a say in it, we would have _never_ let them inject you or the other boys with that shit! Don't you know about the first boy who got injected?! He tried to set Nibelheim on fire when he was 10 years old!"

Cloud narrowed his eyes. Was he talking about Sephiroth? He remembered someone saying Sephiroth was the first person to have the mako serum, but….he didn't know it was that intense, "I'm not like that, dad! Why can't you let me do something that I actually WANT to for once! I was homeschooled until high school, and then I met a ton of people who actually make me feel like I'm worth something! More than either of you had made me feel!" Cloud clenched his fists, "and you know what else?! This whole time I've been saying I'm at the library studying, I've been going out, going out to spar, to wild parties, hell, I've even got drunk a few times!"

His mother quietly spoke out, "Cloud that's dan-"

"Dangerous?! Yeah well, that's not gonna stop me, mom. Maybe if you didn't hold on such a tight reign on me, I wouldn't be like this! I suggest loosening the reigns on the boys, they may end up being worse than me!" Cloud stormed into the foyer, ignoring his father's yelling behind him. He began running, he didn't know exactly where he was going, as long as it was anywhere but near his house.


	5. Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow hey the 5th chapter! I can't believe I'm writing this story so quickly! And to think, I stopped writing in it after a whole year. Anyways, I hope this chapter isn't too muddy, I typed it pretty quickly but I did make a ton of revisions.
> 
> and thank you sooo much to everyone leaving kudos! I really appreciate it omg

After running for God knows how long, Cloud found himself at the beach. He stopped and caught his breath, looking up at the sky. The young teen picked up a rock and chucked it at the ocean, screaming as loud as he could. How dare his father say that! Who did he think he was, anyways?! Cloud was old enough to make his own decisions, he was a SOLDIER now, goddammit! There was no need for his parents to treat him like total garbage. Cloud clenched his fists and kicked another large rock before sitting down. He pulled out his phone and flipped it open, sending Leon a text,

 _Parents didn't take it well at all. Fucking blamed me for my brothers acting up._ He might have been over-exaggerating the last sentence, but that's definitely how he felt like his parents were doing. "They'll want to be in SOLDIER too", Fucking good! If Roxas wants to fight monsters when he's 15 years old, let him. He'd do a damn good job at it too, even little Sora.

 _Told you they weren't going to take it lightly. But it's like you said, they signed the form and there's nothing stopping you from getting on that train in a few weeks. Why don't you come over and you can talk to them in the morning?_ He was right. Nothing was going to stop him, but he would have to deal with another 3 weeks of his parent's anger. Maybe it would be best to let them and himself calm down for tonight and talk about it sometime tomorrow.

 _You're right. I'll be there later. I really need to calm down_. He put his phone back in his pocket and proceeded to throw shells into the ocean as far as he could. The air was still, yet he could hear the trees behind him rustling. Cloud curiously stood up, glancing in the direction that the trees were moving about. Much to his horror, a large monster came out of the bushes, crouching down and glowering at the young teen. It had a bull-like shape, two large horns on the side and one in the middle; and it looked like it came straight out of hell. Cloud glanced down on its chest and realized that this was no regular monster, it had the symbol of a heartless. He stared up at it in complete shock and horror, backing up. Dammit! This is why he should have his sword on him at all times! Cloud looked around for…something to attack with. But his best bet right now was to run for it. Out of nowhere, a winged figure got in front of him, and with one swing of the sword, the monster was completely eradicated. Cloud let out a sigh of relief and sat back down. The figure turned around to face the young teen and rolled his eyes, "Haven't I seen enough of you today?"

Cloud scowled at Sephiroth's rude remark, "Apparently not. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for that," Sephiroth pointed at the monster, "That's a class 5 behemoth, you're lucky it wasn't class 1 or else you would be dead. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be celebrating or something?"

Cloud shrugged, "I was, but my parents ruined it," he glared as he hugged his knees, "I'm sure you wouldn't understand, since your mother is basically the head of the research department."

"Oh, you think just because she's part of SOLDIER, it's been easy for me?!" Sephiroth gave out a loud, fake laugh, "you don't know half of the shit I've been through, kid. You don't know how it was like for me growing up and basically being the guinea pig of this whole superfreak serum in the first place!"

Cloud bit the inside of his cheek. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have said something like that to the first class Lieutenant of SOLDIER, but still! He had the personality of a spoiled brat, despite all of the things he heard from other people. "Is….is it true? What happened in Nibelheim?"

Sephiroth looked at him and sighed, sitting down on the rock adjacent to where Cloud was, "I was angry," He looked down at his feet, "They took me there to show me where Mako was being made. A woman _died_ for it. She died to give us this serum. I guess she was….special. They claimed that she was an alien, I don't know if that was true. Either way, they fucking used her to make us into….into whatever we are. I was mad….I killed Hojo. I tried to kill my father. I didn't know where he was so I set the whole town on fire. I was placed on trial for months, my mother being the only one in my defense. They finally agreed that it was the Mako. I had too much, Genesis and I were the first two children to have the serum. Which is why we have wings, and…..our anger gets out of control."

"Why one wing?" Cloud asked in curiosity. He remembered seeing Genesis at Midgar, who was just as intimidating as Sephiroth himself.

"Genesis," Sephiroth started, "he got out of hand when he was five years old. Hojo didn't like it, so he cut off one wing, telling him that if he acts up again he would cut off the other one. I cut my own off when I was eleven."

"Why?"

"I was tired. I was tired of being different, tired of people referring to me as the dark angel who burned down Nibelheim. I almost cut my other one off but my mother stopped me in time."

"….Do you….regret it?"

Sephiroth shrugged, "I don't really care. It would be pleasant to fly again but, I can manage."

Cloud nodded a little bit, trying to put himself in the older man's shoes. It must be hard, basically growing up as a lab rat. He didn't know much about Sephiroth but he remember hearing that his father was no other than Ansem himself. Ansem, the man who was the sole reason for this complete mess of monsters, mako, and SOLDIER.

"Your parents aren't too keen?"

Cloud nodded again, sighing and looking up at the sky, "I don't even know why they signed the form in the first place. I guess to make me feel good. To make me be adventurous. They've had a tight hold on me for years now. It's time for me to leave the nest. I'm tired of them only seeing me as a trophy child when it comes to academics and a babysitter. They haven't the slightest idea that I've been sparring with Zack since we were practically toddlers.

"They're upset now and think that what I'm going to be doing is dangerous. But they're also only looking at me being an influence. They think that since I'm a soldier now, my three younger brothers will want to do the same, and they don't want that. They want them to 'be safe' and be doctors, researchers, basically anything as long as it doesn't mean to fight off these creatures."

"Speaking as the first class Lieutenant," Sephiroth started, leaning back and took a glimpse over at Cloud, "They have a point. Up until a year ago Xemnas wanted to be a Soldier. Mom didn't want him to because my first mission I came back badly injured, almost to the point where they were considering chopping my arm off. It's extremely dangerous, but every little kid in this town wants to be one. They want to save the world. They want to fight the monsters, they want to be dubbed a hero. But, they soon find out that there's a lot more to that. If you get trapped, don't expect a rescue team, everyone will assume you're dead. If you get amputated, your work as a soldier is done and you will spend your time training the others, but that's it. I cannot express how many of my comrades have died, how many of them retired because of a near death experience, how many have lost their limbs, or how many are completely brain dead. It is a tough and excessively fatal job, and people find that out the hard way."

Cloud stared at him, really taking everything in. It was almost like Sephiroth was encouraging him to not become a soldier. He swallowed hard and tried to imagine himself losing an arm, or even the ability to think for himself, "You're right," he cleared his throat and stared at the waves, which were coming up close, "I'll talk to my parents about it. I shouldn't be too harsh about this situation." They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, Cloud really taking in what Sephiroth had said. He decided for now he would take his mind off of it as he had an important inquiry for the silver haired teen, "Why did you slap Leon?"

"He was my ex," Sephiroth began, "He had sex with his current boyfriend in _my_ room, just three months after we broke up. It was bothersome and upsetting."

"Yeah but," Cloud looked down, trying to think of a good excuse, "We didn't even know. Both of us were really drunk and just had to go somewhere. From what I remember, he was getting his stuff and I came in and wanted to have sex." He shrugged as he stood back up, "First time I ever got trashed, I'm sorry I guess."

Sephiroth shrugged. He seemed to not want to give himself a better excuse for slapping Leon, and quickly changed the subject completely, "I'm going home. You should do the same thing. Keep in mind that your parents care about you. My mother has a tight hold on my youngest brother, much that he's a spoiled little brat." He stood up and disappeared quicker than he appeared.

Cloud let out a sigh, whispering a, "So long." As he head to Leon's house.

* * *

 

"Demyx why are you dragging me to the beach? It's freezing."

"Not to me! I love the water and you know that!" Saix let out an exhasperated groan as the younger boy tugged on his hand to speed it up. It was 8 in the morning, much too early for Saix to even be functional, especially on a Saturday morning; he couldn't even sleep that night either, and having his almost 11 year old ADHD "best friend" slam on his door until he opened it was not the way he wanted to wake up. Upon arriving to the beach, Demyx stopped abruptly and pouted as he saw his twin brother at his favorite spot, "Seifer! Go away!" Demyx ran up to the other boy and tried to shove him, but Seifer just chuckled and shoved him down on the ground.

"You snooze you lose, lamer. Now beat it. I got here first."

Saix sat down and hugged his knees, looking at the shore. He knew the two would start fighting about a stupid spot when there was miles of the beach to choose from. Usually he'd try to drag Demyx away to a different location, but he was too tired to get in the middle.

"Funny, I always thought all twins got along really well," Saix looked up at Xemnas, who came up behind him and took a seat, "Yazoo and Loz always did."

Saix shrugged, "They used to, but Hayner started hanging out with Rai and turned into a huge asshole." He rested his head on the top of his chin and closed his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Xemnas got closer so he was sitting right next to Saix, "you seem like something is on your mind this morning." Saix wanted to keep his problems inside, telling Xemnas would give out the secret, the secret that only Demyx and Demyx alone knew of; besides Isa of course. Yet….he wanted to desperately tell Xemnas. It would probably make the situation a lot easier if he came out to someone a lot older and mature than Demyx. But, what if he didn't like it? What if he thought the whole concept of it was just a load of bullshit? Soon, Saix felt himself tear up, _fuck!_ "Saix?"

Saix put his face down in his knees, "I'm….changing…" he choked out vaguely.

"Changing? What do you mean? Usually when it comes to your age, change is good."

"No I mean like...my _body_ is changing."

Xemnas looked at him, realizing what he had said, "Oh….well, of course it does, it's a sign that you're growing up." Saix looked at him, wiping away his tears before Xemnas could see. "Everyone goes through it when they're about your age, sometimes even a little older. But it's perfectly normal."

Saix nodded. No, he didn't really tell Xemnas his secret, since obviously Xemnas thought he was talking about puberty, but it was better than holding it in, and that's all he cared about. The younger boy gave a small smile and leaned against Xemnas' side. Xemnas froze for a minute before awkwardly patting his back, "Before you know it, you'll be a very handsome young man."

Saix couldn't help but smile at that, hearing someone actually _say_ that to him made him extremely happy and relieved, "Xemnas there's something I gotta tel-"

" _WHOA! Saix!_ Did you see that?!" Saix narrowed his eyes and looked over at Demyx and Seifer, both of them soaking wet, Seifer with an indiginant look on his face but Demyx as happy as ever, "I did that, Saix! Look!" With one swift motion of his arms, Demyx pulled up water out of the ocean and shaped it into a ball. He grinned widely and looked at Seifer, before pushing it forward so it splashed all over his brother.

"Demyx! I'm gonna kick your ass!" Seifer grabbed a rock and began chasing his brother along the shore, who just laughed and took his newfound power to advantage.

"How captivating," Xemnas said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "The boy can control water."

Saix scoffed a laugh. Somehow, this didn't surprise him in the slightest.


	6. Unravel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOO sorry this is about a month late!!! I got into a huge Shameless daze for a while; plus I didn't know how I could handle writing this because the person who helped me with this story is no longer my friend, and I didn't think I would be able to keep going with this. Fortunately, I changed a TON so a lot of it seems like it's my own idea and not with their help. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, it was a little rushed so I apologize for any mistakes!!!

"Cloud, you can't keep running away from this," Cloud rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's remark and lit up another cigarette. "Seriously. You've been here for three days now. You HAVE to go back and confront to them."

"And say _what_ , Leon?! That they should accept the fact that I'm a raging bisexual 15 year old who is in a threesome and about to join a superhuman army?!" Cloud sighed and sat back down on the bed. "They won't understand. They won't listen to me. They're so used to being...them, y'know? All into traditional ways, into academics and not fighting for a living. I cannot express how many times I hear dad complain about SOLDIER's benefits!" he exhaled slowly and put a hand on his forehead.

Leon sat next to him and wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin against his shoulder, "I get it. They're stubborn, hard-headed jerks. Tifa's parents are the same. You won't believe the amount of shit she got when she told them that she was in SOLDIER. And they didn't even sign her papers. They calmed down once she retired and only began working at the training center as a martial arts teacher, but they still don't like the fact that she isn't what they always wanted her to be. That's just something you're going to have to deal with for a while." Leon took the cigarette out of Cloud's hand and moved so he was straddling the younger's waist, "Plus," He put his hand on Cloud's shoulder and took a drag of the cigarette, "Once you turn 18 we get to finally move in together, won't that be fun?"

Cloud smirked and put his arms around Leon's waist, kissing his neck, "Hmmm,let's just hope that my willpower can improve by then."

Leon chuckled and put out the cigarette in the ashtray and held Cloud's face as he gave him another kiss. "Trust me, there's plenty of time to work on that."

Cloud kissed Leon again, rubbing his back and smirking between the kisses, "You taste like cigarettes." He remarked

Leon sneered, "You had three," he moved upwards and began to grind against the younger teen, his hands still firmly holding onto his face, "I think you're smelling yourself, not me."

The blonde teen smirked and buried his face against Leon's neck as he began to strip his own clothing off. It wasn't just that he was avoiding his parents, he loved spending every waking moment with Leon, and he knew that once he went off into training, he wouldn't be able to see either of his lovers for a good six months. He wanted to cherish every moment, and since Tifa is off at Midgar, that leaves giving Leon his undivided attention. He held onto Leon's shirt as he slowly took it off. He wanted to move things a little slower than usual, maybe then he could make the other teen climax before him. Oh, won't that be an accomplishment.

Obviously, Leon had other plans. His breathing became much more erratic and he began to unbuckle himself and pull off his pants. As Cloud looked down and saw how hard he already was, he couldn't help but grunt and reach for the bottle of lube still sitting on the bed from the first round, not even two hours ago. The younger teen poured the lube on his fingers and proceeded to finger Leon, who stayed on top of Cloud, his eyes closed, and slowly bucking forward his hips. Leon took his own handful of lube and he slowly rubbed Cloud's hardened member. Cloud sharply breathed in, licking his lips and looking at his beautiful lover tower over him. He moved his middle finger in deeper and curled it and smirked as Leon let out a gasp. His grinding became much quicker and he threw his head back, moaning Cloud's name. Cloud took out his fingers and sat up straight as he hugged Leon's neck, Leon moving his hips so he could lower himself on his boyfriend. The minute he did, Cloud quickly grabbed his waist and change their position, so that he was on top. Leon chuckled, "Getting fiesty, aren't we?"   
`  
"Maybe this time I'll make you cum." Cloud sucked onto Leon's neck as he began thrusting at a steady pace. Of all of the times they've fucked, they have only gone into this position twice. Leon liked being in control, but Cloud felt that having his boyfriend on top of him like that was almost too much to handle, and that's why he always finished first. The two times they were in missionary, Cloud was way too drunk and moved everything too fast, which resulted in a very quick, unsatisfying ending.

But this time, he was completely sober, and had full control. He grabbed onto Leon's own member and began stroking him at the same pace as his own thrusts, which were quickening at each second. Leon couldn't help but to let out a moan at the touch and the sudden hit of his prostate. He carefully wrapped his legs around Cloud's waist and held onto his back. Cloud gazed into his eyes and gave his lover a heated kiss. He felt himself already getting close, yet he tried his hardest to hold it in. His thrusting became deeper and more erratic, and the hold on Leon's member became just a tad tighter.

"Cloud," Leon moaned, "Cloud, _fuck._ " Leon lifted his head back and moaned loudly, coming all over both of them. Cloud bit his lip and smirked and thrusted harder, letting out his own moan as he climaxed. The two stayed in that position for a few moments, before Cloud lifted his head up and kissed Leon passionately. He rolled over onto his back, catching his breath. Leon let out a small, breathy chuckle, "Told you."

* * *

 

That afternoon, after hours of stalling, Cloud slowly took a step into his house. Almost immediately, Roxas gasped and ran right into his older brother's arms. "You're back, Cloud! I missed you!"

 _At least one does,_ Cloud thought as hugged his little brother and rubbed his back, "Sorry, buddy. I had some.....thinking to do. Where's Ven and Sora?"

"Mom's making Sora take a nap," Roxas said, going over to his legos that were sprawled out on the floor, "I dunno where Ven went, I think with Aqua, but don't tell mom and dad that. I'm telling 'em that he's over at Terra's."

Cloud raised his eyebrows. Even though he was alright with his brothers sneaking off with their friends, Roxas and Ven seemed a little too young to already be going off with girls and covering for each other. He smirked and sat on the floor next to Roxas, "So, is Aqua Ven's girlfriend?"

Roxas made a disgusting face, " _ **NO!** Yuck!_ Aqua and Ven aren't kissing! Aqua's older than Ven anyways. You can't date an older girl."

"Says who? Tifa is older than me."

Roxas stared at Cloud, looking for a good excuse to come up with, but he just looked back down at his legos and shook his head, murmuring a 'yuuuck'. Cloud chucked and ruffled his little brother's hair, then looked up as he heard the sound of footsteps come downstairs.

"Cloud," His father's voice had absolutely no emotion tied to it, "you're home."

Cloud nodded and stood up, looking at the floor before finally staring into his father's eyes, "I need to talk to you and mom"

His father nodded once, "Very well," he gazed to Roxas, "Roxas. Stay down here. I'm going to talk to Cloud."

Roxas stared at the two older males, absentmindedly rubbing his spaceship. Cloud knew that look. That was the look that any 8 year old would make when they have the intention of eavesdropping. The teen shook his head, but he knew that wouldn't stop his little brother. As his father made his way back upstairs, Cloud followed, and the two went into the office where their mother was already sitting. It was almost like they were already expecting Cloud to come in to have this converstation. Cloud slowly closed the door behind him and sat down on the opposite side to where his mother's computer desk was. His father sat right next to his mother. Cloud took a deep breath as he started talking, "I know that this is horrifying for the both of you, I know that you're afraid of losing me, and I know that you never had the intention of sending me off to be a part of SOLDIER." He looked at them, they were listening closely, and he felt like he was drowning, "But this is something that I've been dreaming about for a very long time. I want to do this. I am better than you think I am with a sword. I can't express how many times I've kicked Zack's ass!

"Being a soldier will be the best thing you two will let me do. It will mold me into a better, stronger man. And, I'll have something to release my anger out, so I won't be punching in anymore walls like I always do," Cloud rubbed at his upper arm, it suddenly began to itch, "I get it, you don't want all of your kids to be in soldier and possibly die. But if we start training them now, by having them spar, signing them up for karate, or just about anything that will get them strong, they'll be able to survive and become just as strong as SOLDIER's general himself." Cloud leaned his head down, continuing, "And no, I haven't been honest with you guys. I have been going out to wild parties, I've been drinking a lot, which I'm trying to work on, and....I've been having sex....with both Tifa...and Leon. Safe, I assure you. But, I like boys and I like girls. I love them both. I know it's really strange and really hard to believe but," He looked back up at his parents, who didn't have any type of emotions on their face. They were just staring at him intensely, waiting for him to continue, "Please, just....please understand. I love both of you and I couldn't ask for better parents but, I'm growing up, Roxas, Ven, and Sora are too. Let me do this. Let them do whatever. Support them, support me, and we'll be more open to you." Cloud couldn't stop scratching at his arm, he couldn't tell if this was a brand new nervous habit or if a bug had bit him.

His parents stared at each other for a second, then his father started, "Cloud, I'm proud of you," he stared into his son's eyes, "you spilled your heart out to us more than I ever have with my father." Cloud couldn't help but smile a little at that, "I see your side now. That doesn't necessarily mean that I support it. That definitely does not mean that I approve of your....relationship with both a woman and a man," he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, "but you're right. You're growing up. You're your own person. We cannot act like we own you. Same for the boys. We will start loosening up their leash. I've noticed that they're already trying to sneak out and that is a big concern. Roxas and Ven are much too young to do that."

Cloud nodded, glancing back over at the door, wondering if Roxas is making a run for it to try to find Ventus. "We'll let you go to Midgar, sweetie," his mother said, "but you must write to us every chance you get. Understand?"

"Yes mom. I understand," he stood up and hugged his parents, "thank you so much. This means a lot to me." His mother hugged back and his father pat him on the shoulders, Cloud smiled and went to go back in his room, when he saw Roxas, trying to act like he didn't hear. "You better go and tell Ven."

Roxas giggled a little bit and started walking downstairs. Cloud grunted at the discomfort at his arm and pulled up his sleeve, widening his eyes as he saw that his whole arm was extremely red and very irritated. He definitely should go make a doctor's appointment. As he head back to his room, Roxas came back over to him, looking at him very curiously,

"Hey Cloud, what's sex?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only two more chapters to go and I'll be done with part one!!! I'm so happy with this progress I've made in the past 2 months.


	7. Geostigma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I rewrote it like 3 times; I hope it makes sense

                Sephiroth exhaled slowly as the smoke creeped out through his nose. Usually when his mother holds meetings, they’re based on progression on either mako or the decrease of monsters; so he entered the meeting with a lightened mood. However, once she talked and explained everything, he began to feel upset, and even worried for himself and his brothers. The winged man put out his cigarette as he parked in the driveway, and silently went inside. Instead of going to his own room, he head straight for his youngest brother’s room. Kadaj was sleeping silently, no shirt on and big sweatpants-probably Xemnas’. Sephiroth slowly felt around the 9 year old’s torso for any marks, rashes, or scabs. Once he saw that Kadaj was completely flawless, he let out a sigh of relief and left the room, heading back to his own, “What are you doing?” Sephiroth turned around and saw Xemnas staring at him, a confused look on his face.

Sephiroth scratched the back of his head and looked down at his feet. He really didn’t want to talk about this until the morning, but he knew Xemnas wouldn’t let him go, “Do you have any rashes?”

Xemnas shook his head, “Why? That has nothing to do with you being in Kadaj’s room.”

“Because-“Sephiroth froze. How the hell was he going to explain it? He was still in complete shock of what his mother told him that he didn’t really understand how to explain it to his younger brother. He gestured for Xemnas to follow him and the two went in Sephiroth’s room, just in case Kadaj ended up waking up and eavesdropping.

As Sephiroth sat on his bed, Xemnas took a seat on the desk chair, “Well?”

“Can you give me a fucking minute to think,” Sephiroth rolled his eyes, “Rufus fell sick a while ago. He had a rash…it started out like any normal rash, but then the color began to change. Soon, it was covering almost his entire body. Then, his health began to falter. Mom was hoping that it was just him, but for the past month, she’s been getting calls from different doctors, citizens, and even SOLDIERs about this….rash. I think….I think Genesis has it,” Sephiroth looked down at his hands, he couldn’t really bear to even think about his best friend being in the same position Rufus was at the moment, “it could be fatal, mom is trying to find a cure, or at least some type of treatment to reduce the major symptoms. Just….I just want you to know. And let me know if anyone has complained about a rash.”

“Demyx’s brother was complaining about a rash, I guess I’ll have to ask him.” Xemnas said and looked at his older brother, “it must be serious….since you’re so worried about Kadaj.” Sephiroth scoffed, “is she calling it anything?”

Sephiroth shrugged, “Not yet as far as I know. She’ll think of something before President Shinra makes the announcement; I don’t know when that will be either, but soon probably. This is extremely serious. It may not seem like it….but…Xemnas…if you ever saw Rufus, you’d understand.”

Xemnas nodded, “I believe you. It’s not easy. Maybe you should take a few days off?”  he stood up, voice filled with worry. The last time he saw Sephiroth this distressed was when their father disappeared.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Sephiroth stood up and put his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder, “just take care of yourself.” He knew it was almost rude to say, but if Sephiroth had the chance of saving one brother, he would choose Xemnas. Kadaj is a spoiled little brat who gets away with everything, Yazoo and Loz have never bonded with Sephiroth, he thinks that they were always jealous of the extra attention that he got from the mako. They seemed to get even more distant once their father left. But either because of the small age gap or going through the same difficulties regarding their father, Xemnas and Sephiroth were very close.

Xemnas gave a small smile and pat Sephiroth’s hand, and made his way back to his own room. Sephiroth stripped off his clothes and put a pair of sweatpants on, and lay down on his bed, staring at his wall. He couldn’t get the image of his mother’s face out of his head when she begged him to make sure Kadaj was okay, and the way that she checked his back for a full three minutes after the meeting. In the 18 years of his life, Sephiroth has _never_ seen his mother that scared, and that’s what worried him the most. No, in his mind he didn’t think anything of it when she explained to everyone the situation, but once everyone was gone and seeing her reaction made Sephiroth almost nauseous.

 

* * *

 

                 

                Cloud tried to catch his breath has he brought his hands to his knees, tired of the running. 3 weeks into his training, and it was already exhausting him; especially when they all had to wake up at 5 in the morning and run for six miles. He knew Angeal, Zack's father, was a tough man, but seeing him be in SOLDIER was a whole different ball game; especially since he was the one training. Angeal passed Cloud and hit his shoulder, "Let's go, Strife! You wanted to be a soldier your whole life, so you better start acting like one."

Cloud took a deep breath and started running, he ran passed Angeal and began to pick up his pace, ignoring the burning of his legs. Eventually, he caught up with the majority of the group and completed the run for today. He began walking a little bit to help cool off his legs and took a long sip of his water. Even though he hated waking up at the crack of dawn, Cloud couldn't complain too much. The air was still crisp from early spring and the sunset that was toppling over all of the machines and walls surrounding Midgar was absolutely peaceful.

Angeal finally caught up with the group, and took a drink of water as well, "Today instead of sparring," A lot of people looked over in curiosity. For the past 3 weeks, all they have beend doing is sparring and cleaning/sharpening their swords, and now he was taking it up a notch, "You'll be practicing martial arts with two of our best. They may look cute and weak, but they were both first class soldiers for some time. Do not be fooled." Cloud wondered if one of them was Tifa, it would make sense, because there's no doubt in his mind that she is stronger than she looks. The group moved towards the arena where, sure enough, Tifa and Yuffie were standing. Cloud smiled a little. His girlfriend teaching him Martial Arts? This was going to be fun. His smile faltered as he heard a few of the guys whistle, and the one guy Zell, said something that made Cloud want to punch him right then and there.

Tifa didn't look phased, she walked past all of them, "Martial Arts is a traditional combat fighting style, and at many points here in SOLDIER, you must know how to master. Just like everything, the more complex it gets the higher the class you're in. We'll start with the basics right now, everyone start stretching."

Yuffie went through different moves and stretches with the entire group, and soon enough, she had them practicing on their own. As Tifa began walking around, Cloud saw that Zell was still trying to get her attention, and it sparked him with a perfect idea to let that asshole know Tifa was his. "’Scuse me miss,"

Tifa looked over at Cloud, smirking and rolling her eyes heading towards him, "What seems to be the problem, rookie?"

"I'm having trouble with this one move," he put a hand over hers, getting really close, “Care to help me out”? He wanted to glance over to see if Zell was staring at them, but he forgot how mesmerizing Tifa could be. He hasn't seen her nor Leon in 3 weeks, and he desperately just wanted to at least look at them again. And now he was finally touching Tifa, he wanted more of her.

Tifa chuckled at his face and his awful attempted pick up line, "Honestly, Cloud, you are something else." She stared into his blue eyes and ran a hand up her arm, until she noticed it was wet and sticky. She narrowed her eyes and looked down at his arm, gasping at what she saw, "Cloud! Y-your arm!"

Cloud looked down and saw something that was almost nauseating to look at. Some thin, sticky black stubstance was dripping down his arm. He lifted his sleeve up and saw that the "rash" had turned into a black, nasty scab. Cloud's breathing became shallow, and suddenly he felt woozy. He could hear Tifa yelling his name, yet she felt like she was miles away. The room began spinning, then everything was white.

* * *

 

Cloud woke up to a quiet beeping noise. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in a hospital room. He stirred around and looked up, seeing a very familiar figure sitting down, writing things down on their clipboard. The figure looked exactly like Sephiroth, but with brown hair instead of silver. But why would Sephiroth be in here? "Se-sephiroth..."

The figure looked at him and stood up, "Cloud Strife," that definitely was not Sephiroth's voice, "I'm Lucrecia Crescent."

Oh.

Sephrioth's mother.

"M-my apologies," Cloud mumbled, sitting up a little bit, "could you, if you may, Ms. Crescent, please explain what the hell is goin' on. I got this rash about a month ago, I went to my dermatologist and he told me it was just eczema. Nothing really caused it, it just...happened. Now, I'm no doctor, but I assure you that a black scab oozing out black nasty shit isn't just your regular case of eczema." Cloud remember seeing his arm, suddenly he felt woozy again.

"Before I can explain anything," Lucrecia moved to the seat next to Cloud's bed, "I need to ask you a few questions." The woman took her clipboard and clicked her pen, and Cloud couldn't help but to be mesmerized by this woman. She looked very young, too young to have 5 kids, 2 being in their 20s at that. Sephiroth was a spitting image of her, and Sephiroth was already a very beautiful man, no one could deny that. But seeing the one who he came from... Lucrecia Crescent was absolutely breathtaking. "When did the itching start?"

Cloud thought back about the conversation he had with his mother and father weeks before he went to his training, "Just about 5 weeks ago."

Lucrecia wrote down on her clipboard, "and have you ever fainted before?"

"I've....fainted once 2 years ago. A friend and I were sparring and he hit my stomach real bad, had to get stitches."

"And have you been feeling sick at all with any flu like symptoms?" Cloud shook his head, "And how old are you, Mr. Strife?" 

"15, Ma'am."

Lucrecia made sure she had everything written down before she stood back up, "Well, Mr. Strife, what you have is extremely new. I'm calling it Geostigma; which is why the doctors don't really know anything about it. This all started last summer. Rufus Shinra had a very bad rash on his arm. By the time it was Thanksgiving, the rash became what yours is now. A month later, it began to spread; then just this February, his health began to decline.

"We wanted to keep this on the low, we almost let the media announce that Rufus simply had cancer. But then I got a phone call from a doctor in Nibelheim who told me two teenagers from Hollow Bastion had black scabs on their legs. And soon, at least five SOLDIERs have the same thing. The only people who have it were injected with Mako. I am working with many different doctors and researchers to quickly find a cure or even to slow down the spreading and sickness."

Cloud looked down at his arms. This was a lot to take in, it was almost like she was telling him he had something like cancer or AIDS. "Is...it fatal?"

"No one...has died yet....but the by the looks of Rufus, I have to say yes," Cloud exhaled slowly, "Luckily, two people have volunteered to have us experiment on them. I'll be starting the process tomorrow. Do you...have any questions?"

"How long...how long do you think I have left before...."

"I can't say. Everyone seems to be taking this at effect at different times. Apparently, onee boy's rash didn't turn black for 6 months. It took another girl only 3 weeks. I assure you, Cloud," Lucrecia looked Cloud in the eyes, "I will have something for everyone before this becomes fatal. I promise you that." It was a big promise, but Cloud felt as if he could trust her. Lucrecia gathered her things, and with one more goodbye, she left the room.

Cloud closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He didn't know how to feel. Would he live past 18? Would he really move in with Leon and Tifa like he always thought? Or would he be on his deathbed by Christmas. The door opened and Tifa slowly came in. She sat down on the bed and rubbed his arm, "How are you feeling?"

He looked at her, "She told me I could die at any time. How do you think I feel?"

"Hey," Tifa kissed his forehead, "Don't look at it like that. You'll ge-"

"Oh don't fucking tell me that, Tifa! 'I'll get through it'. Really? You don't think I'm trying my hardest to let myself know that? I could die tomorrow, next week, even Christmas! Once I get sick, it's over."

"You can't be fucking serious," Tifa leaned back up and sneered at her boyfriend, "Cloud, Who the fuck are you? The Cloud I love wouldn't give up this easily. When Lucrecia said she's looking for a cure, she is REALLY looking for a cure. She's staying up nights on end, busting her ass and doing research. She's smart, she was able to create Mako in under five months given all of the circumstances. She's also strong, you know how hard it would've been to have your own child as the first kid with Mako? Either way, she's going to save you and everyone else. You'll be alive by Christmas, you'll be alive on my birthday, and you'll definitely still be here when you're 18."

Cloud's gaze was on her, yet Tifa knew he was looking right past her. She let out a sigh and kissed him, "If you think you should go home then I can let Ge-"

"No, I'm not giving up yet. You're right. I can't just give up something that I've been trying my hardest for years. If I do die by new years, then New Years will be my last day here."

Tifa smiled and kissed the back of his hand, "That's the Cloud I know. Just take it easy alright," she pressed her forehead up to his as he put a hand on the back of her head, I love you. I trust Lucrecia, please do the same. Get some rest, alright? I gotta get back," Tifa stood back up, "Don't faint again alright?"

Cloud scoffed a laugh and playfully smacked her ass, "Go kick some ass for me, especially Zell's."

"Awww really? I thought he was a cutie." Tifa laughed at Cloud's sneer and ruffled his hair. She let out one more wave as she left the room, leaving Cloud to himself again. He stared up at the ceiling. Geostigma? That was an interesting name for it. Regardless, Tifa was right. He needed to look at everything in a more positive light. Even if Lucrecia wouldn't be able to find a cure or treatment, it wouldn't keep Cloud Strife down. He'll keep fighting until the very end.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and part one is done! Luckily, I just started writing it weeks ago. Problem is, I have no idea when I'll be typing it up. I recently got a new job and school started up again. I'm hoping i'll get it on here soon. At least then I could have a whole STORY completed.


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